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Residential Tenancies Act 1986

The Tenancy Tribunal - Procedure

99: Tribunal may require inquiry and report by Tenancy Mediator or suitable person

You could also call this:

“The Tribunal can ask someone to look into things and report back to help solve problems between tenants and landlords.”

The Tribunal can ask a Tenancy Mediator to look into and write a report about any fact that’s important for a case they’re dealing with. The Tribunal can tell the Mediator exactly what they want them to investigate and how to do it. This Mediator can’t be someone who has already tried to help solve the dispute before.

If the Tribunal thinks that the people involved in the case might be able to agree on something with some help, they can ask a Tenancy Mediator to try and help them reach an agreement. If this happens, the rules from section 88 will be used, but if the people can’t agree, the Mediator will tell the Registrar instead of the chief executive.

Instead of using a Tenancy Mediator, the Tribunal can choose someone else who they think has the right skills or experience. This person will be treated like a Tenancy Mediator and will have the same job and powers. This person can be a real person or a company.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM95916.

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“The mediator or judge can ask for a property value report to help decide some cases”

Part 3 The Tenancy Tribunal
Procedure

99Tribunal may require inquiry and report by Tenancy Mediator or suitable person

  1. The Tribunal may, at any stage of any proceedings before it, require a Tenancy Mediator (not being one who has acted in any mediation of the dispute to which the proceedings relate) to inquire into, and report in writing to the Tribunal upon, any matter of fact having a bearing upon the proceedings, and may give to the Tenancy Mediator all such directions as to the nature, scope, and conduct of the inquiry as the Tribunal thinks fit.

  2. Without limiting subsection (1), where, during any proceedings before it, the Tribunal is satisfied that the parties may be brought to an agreed settlement in respect of any matter in issue with the assistance of independent mediation, the Tribunal may refer the matter in dispute to a Tenancy Mediator accordingly; and the provisions of subsections (2) to (7) of section 88, with any necessary modifications, shall apply, except that, if an agreed settlement is not reached the Tenancy Mediator shall report to the Registrar rather than to the chief executive.

  3. The Tribunal may, instead of appointing a Tenancy Mediator under subsection (1), appoint a person who, in the opinion of the Tribunal, is suitably qualified or experienced, and on such an appointment—

  4. the person appointed is deemed to be a Tenancy Mediator for the purpose of the appointment; and
    1. has, for that purpose, all the functions, duties, and powers of a Tenancy Mediator.

      1. A person appointed under subsection (3) may be a natural person or a body corporate.

      Notes
      • Section 99 heading: amended, on , by section 67(1) of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 95).
      • Section 99(2): amended, on , by section 67(2) of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 95).
      • Section 99(3): inserted, on , by section 67(3) of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 95).
      • Section 99(4): inserted, on , by section 33 of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 26).